Heavy Snow, Eastern Las Animas County
- When
- December 23, 3:00 AM MST to 1:00 PM MST
- Where
- Eastern Las Animas County forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 38.473, -105.440 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow in Colorado, December 23, 1997
A surface low pressure system moved across New Mexico into the Texas panhandle, setting down a band of heavy snow in extreme southeast Colorado. Snowfall accumulations ranged from 4 to 8 inches from the Lamar area in northern Prowers county, throughout Baca county, including Springfield and Walsh, and eastern Las Animas county, including Kim.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 4 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 4
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS PUB wrote it up.
A surface low pressure system moved across New Mexico into the Texas panhandle, setting down a band of heavy snow in extreme southeast Colorado. Snowfall accumulations ranged from 4 to 8 inches from the Lamar area in northern Prowers county, throughout Baca county, including Springfield and Walsh, and eastern Las Animas county, including Kim. One to three inches amounts were common in Kiowa, Bent, Crowley, Otero, and western Las Animas counties.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
4 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy Snow, Bent County/Las Animas and Vicinity
- When
- December 23, 3:00 AM MST to 1:00 PM MST
- Where
- Bent County/Las Animas and Vicinity forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 38.110, -105.070 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Prowers County/Lamar and Vicinity
- When
- December 23, 3:00 AM MST to 1:00 PM MST
- Where
- Prowers County/Lamar and Vicinity forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 37.989, -104.947 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Baca County/Springfield and Vicinity
- When
- December 23, 3:00 AM MST to 1:00 PM MST
- Where
- Baca County/Springfield and Vicinity forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 38.729, -105.043 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- Heavy Snow
- Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Heavy Snow in Oklahoma, December 23 to 24, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, December 23, 1997
- Winter Storm in Utah, December 23 to 25, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Texas, December 23, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Louisiana, December 23, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Louisiana, December 23, 1997
- Heavy Snow in Oregon, December 23, 1997
- Heavy Snow in Texas, December 23 to 24, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Texas, December 23, 1997
- Flash Flood in Alaska, December 23 to 31, 1997
- Heavy Snow in Oklahoma, December 23 to 24, 1997
- Heavy Snow in Massachusetts, December 23, 1997
More
Every storm in Colorado in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, December 1997
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5626621, 5626622, 5626623, 5626624.